


The 8th Square

by Circeancity



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Rituals, it's not sexual but emerald's naked for a while, weird dust and aura headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 12:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5291048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Circeancity/pseuds/Circeancity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Are you alright?” the firelight danced across Cinder’s face, changing what might have been concern into a sick grimace.<br/>“Yes, ma’am.” Emerald nodded quickly.<br/>Cinder moved towards the table, a flame flickering from a single finger to light the candles on. “Will you still be alright when I say you have to be naked?” the end of her sentence rode out on a chuckle.<br/>“Yes ma’am.”<br/>One, two, three, Cinder made her way around the table, only when she turned could Emerald see she was frowning. “And you’re prepared for it to hurt?”<br/>“Y-yes ma–” A cloud of flame burst from the center of the table, lighting the remainder of the candles without melting a single one. Such expert control, and soon enough, Emerald would have it too.<br/>“Stop saying that. You’re better than that now.”<br/>“Yes,” she forced herself to meet the queen’s gaze, to show her she was serious. “Cinder.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The 8th Square

**Author's Note:**

> based on a post by tumblr user xekstrin, i probably rushed this too much.  
> *the title is because, in chess, when you get a pawn to the 8th square (all the way across the board) you can change it to any piece except a king. even a queen.

Emerald didn't know her name, but the way Cinder acted said everything she needed to know. She kept her molten eyes pointed low, answered in “yes ma’am”s, asked no questions and made no objections. In the years Emerald had known her, Cinder had named herself the “Queen”, lording over her pawns, making great leaps and bounds effortlessly to accomplish her goals. The woman in front of them, that even a great queen deferred to, could only be the King.

The king smiled down at Emerald, gold eyes razed the flesh from her body, exposing her bare soul. Emerald dropped her gaze. “I like this one.” her voice was deeper than emerald expected, “Good job Cinder.”

“Thank you.” her face lit up in a smile and for a brief moment Emerald saw a bit of herself in Cinder. Said bit died once she turned to her, features darkened and mysterious once again. “We’d better get you ready then.” She placed a hand on Emerald’s shoulder, trailing down her arm with a feather light touch until she reached her wrist and grabbed it.

Emerald didn’t let herself get dragged, keeping in step with her boss until they reached their destination. The door swung open to something that looked far less like a torture chamber than Emerald had imagined it would. The room was dark, yes, but a fireplace casted a warm glow throughout from the far wall. The floor was smooth marble, as was the table that cropped up from the center. Tall, elegant candles decorated its edges, dried wax flowing over symbols etched into the stone, it looked almost like an altar. Like this “ritual” was just a ruse to sacrifice her to an even greater power. Emerald swallowed.

“Are you alright?” the firelight danced across Cinder’s face, changing what might have been concern into a sick grimace.

“Yes, ma’am.” Emerald nodded quickly.

Cinder moved towards the table, a flame flickering from a single finger to light the candles on. “Will you still be alright when I say you have to be naked?” the end of her sentence rode out on a chuckle.

“Yes ma’am.”

One, two, three, Cinder made her way around the table, only when she turned could Emerald see she was frowning. “And you’re prepared for it to hurt?”

“Y-yes ma–” A cloud of flame burst from the center of the table, lighting the remainder of the candles without melting a single one. Such expert control, and soon enough, Emerald would have it too.

“Stop saying that. You’re better than that now.”

“Yes,” she forced herself to meet the queen’s gaze, to show her she was serious. “Cinder.”

“Good. N--” Cinder caught herself. They were equals and Emerald clearly wasn’t the only one who would have to remember that. “Thank you. Now, like I said, you’ll have to be naked for this.”

Emerald waited for a command out of habit, but was met with a bemused-- and impatient-- look.

“I’m not going to leave for this. It’d be pointless.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Emerald shrugged, smiling sheepishly like she was embarrassed about the whole thing. Which, if this were happening for any other reason, she might’ve been. Not wanting to anger her, Emerald quickly shed her clothes and hurried to the table. Goosebumps spread across her skin as she climbed onto the cold marble. “You know everything that’s going to happen, right?” Cinder asked her, righting some candles that were knocked out of place during her ascent.

“Uh-huh.” All through the days leading up to this, Cinder had told her about the ritual. Revealing it bit by bit in her usual ways.

“Tell me.”

Emerald sighed, trying to chronologically piece it together. “You’re going to lock my aura.”

“Not me, but go on.” She took out her scroll and started tapping out a message.

“You’re--uh, or she’s--gonna stab me with dust and use your own aura to...I’m sure there’s a lot of science behind it but I don’t remember all that.”

Cinder rolled her eyes, “But you know the result?”

“Yes. When you turn my aura back on, it’ll consider the dust a part of me. So I’ll be able to use it like you do.” She smiled proudly.

Cinder smiled back. She brushed her hand against Emerald’s cheek, while the other one pressed down on her shoulder, guiding her to lie flat on the table. “You missed a few things, but I’m glad you understand.”

“Also it hurts like a bitch.” Emerald added, trying to distract herself from the warmth of Cinder’s touch.

“That too.” She took her hand away and Emerald tried her best not to whine. “I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere.”

As if she had any idea where to go.

The click of glass heels against mable was soon followed by the door slamming shut. Emerald was alone. If she was going to be scared, to wax poetic about her situation, ponder the moral ramifications of becoming “more than human” as Cinder said, now was the time. But. She didn’t really care about that. Instead, she was excited. For years she had given Cinder her everything and it would finally pay off. She wouldn’t be ordered around anymore, Cinder would respect her as an equal and, in time, maybe even think of her as...

Ridiculous. But the thought made her smile.

The door opened again and Cinder was joined by someone with a much heavier footfall. When the pair appeared over her, she noticed they had the same eyes. Not just the color, but the way they burned, bright and intense as an open forge. Would hers do that too? The king placed one hand on Emerald’s core, the other on her head, and stared down at her intently. She couldn’t force herself to meet her gaze, but that didn’t seem necessary.

“ _For it is through conquest that we achieve immortality. In this I deem you unworthy and, by my shoulder, bind your soul once more._ ” It was a warped version of the adage every warrior in remnant had heard at least once. In Emerald’s case, it was delivered in an alley, paid for with the life of a rather troublesome witness. She didn’t ask to what.

Suddenly she felt much heavier. The world started spinning. Cinder reappeared in the corner of her vision, but she didn’t recall her ever leaving. She held several crystals of raw, unrefined dust. The king took one and held it just above Emerald’s skin. "We should have given her something to bite on.” The crystal lit up, enlivened by her aura. She didn’t hesitate for a second before pressing it directly into her chest.

A primal scream ripped its way through Emerald’s throat. The golden eyes above her didn’t waver, but Cinder offered one of her hands. She grabbed it without thinking, squeezing so hard she’d have broken a bone if she still had her aura. Cinder muttered condolences through grit teeth, but even she could barely hear them.

“Now, now, such theatrics are hardly befitting of a queen.” the king spoke once her screams degenerated into choked sobs. As the last of the crystal was used up, she motioned for Cinder to give her another. “Time for round two.”

For “round two”, Cinder held a hand on her stomach, using her aura to heal the girl as the damage was done. It didn’t stop the pain, the horrible smell as she realized her skin was starting to singe, but it prevented the wound from getting too serious.

Round three had her voice break. Cinder brushed tears off her cheeks. She was doing well, apparently. The king gave no such praise, Cinder had done better.

“You gagged me. Remember?”

The king chuckled, “I had to, dear. It was only me at the time.”

Six crystals in total were burned into Emerald’s body, but at last, it was over. “...unbound by death, I release your soul, and with my power, arm thee.” The king removed her hands and Emerald felt like she could finally breathe again. “I’ll leave you two alone for now. Someone will be waiting in your quarters.”

Only once she was gone did Emerald even attempt to sit up. “You might want to rest easy for a few days, give that wound time to heal.” Cinder said as she walked around the table, snuffing out each candle.

“How long did it take you?”

“Hm, a few days. Though I acted like it took much longer. She spoiled the shit out of me.” The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips, “That was a bad idea. She found out I was lying and...well, sometimes I still think she’s making me pay for it.”

Emerald nodded and pushed herself upright with a grunt. “Will, um, will this go away?” Her eyes flicked down  to the ragged, charred gash between her breasts.

“You tell me.” Cinder hooked a finger on the neckline of her dress and dragged it down, revealing a puckered, almost cross-shaped mark to match hers. “Looks like you’re gonna need a new wardrobe.”

Emerald pouted, “I like my clothes though...”

“I know,” Cinder smiled, her voice was smooth as velvet, “But we all have to make sacrifices sometimes.” She stepped up to the table and, without warning, picked Emerald up princess style.

She instantly froze, staring up at Cinder like she was afraid to move. “I, uh, I can walk.”

“You don’t even know the way.”

“I know, but...” with every passing moment, Emerald became more acutely aware of the older woman’s hands against her bare skin. She tried to cross her arms over her chest but any movement around the wound sent bolts of pain through her whole body. Cinder carried on like she never protested. Even if Emerald finished the thought, she doubted Cinder would’ve stopped. After all, though she was no longer her boss, she was her mentor, her partner, and she knew what was best.

 


End file.
